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ʻAlekoki - Words by Kalākaua/Lunalilo, Music by Lizzie ʻAlohikea Click Title to Access Older Melody
ʻAʻole i piliwi ʻia Kahi wai aʻo ʻAlekoki Ua hoʻokohu ka ua i uka Noho maila i Nuʻuanu Anuanu makehewa au Ke kali ʻana i laila Kai nō paha ua paʻa Kou manaʻo i ʻaneʻi I ʻō i ʻaneʻi au Ka piʻina aʻo Maʻemaʻe He ʻala onaona kou Ka i hiki mai i ʻaneʻi Ua malu nēia kino Ma muli aʻo kou leo Kau nui aku ka manaʻo Kahi wai aʻo Kapena Pania paʻa ʻia mai Nā mana wai aʻo uka Ma luna aʻe nō au Ma nā lumi liʻiliʻi Ma waho aʻo Māmala Hao mai nei ehuehu Pulu au i ka hunakai Kai heʻaheʻa i ka ʻili Hoʻokahi nō koa nui Nāna e ʻalo ia ʻino ʻInoʻino mai nei luna I ka hao a ka makani He makani ʻāhaʻilono Lohe ka luna i Pelekane A ʻo ia pouli nui Mea ʻole i kuʻu manaʻo E kilohi au i ka nani Nā pua o Maunaʻala Haʻina mai ka puana Kahi wai aʻo ʻAlekoki	William Charles Lunalilo         Princess Victoria Kamamalu         David Kalākaua	Unbelievable Waters of ʻAlekoki Like the rains of the uplands Sitting this side of Nuʻuanu Cold forsaken me Waiting here Believing with certainty Your thoughts were of me Here I am At Maeʻmaʻe hill Where your sweet fragrance Has come to me This body is captive To your voice Thoughts linger At the waters of Kapena Blocked Upland streams And I am above In little rooms Outside Māmala Spray flurries And I am wet with foam And sea slippery to the skin One brave man Faces the storm The storms above And the blustering wind A wind bringing news That the king of England hears This deep black night Cannot worry me I behold beauty And the flowers of Maunaʻala Tell the refrain Waters of ʻAlekoki
Source: Nā Mele o Hawaiʻi Nei by Elbert & Mahoe. There are similar versions in Echo of Our Song by Mary Pukui, King's Song's of Hawaiʻi, Johnny Noble`s Hawaiian Hula and Emerson's Unwritten Literature of Hawaiʻi, the difference being primarily the placement of verses and stanzas. This chant, a lover's complaint was composed about 1850. Oral tradition credits this to Prince William Charles Lunalilo (1835-1874) and tells of his supposed meeting with Princess Victoria Kamamalu (1838-1866) and disappointment when she did not arrive and was forbidden to marry him. Their parents had planned their marriage from infancy and their children would have been of a higher rank than the princess or her brothers. This may have been the reason for the opposition to this match. He reproaches the princess for rejecting his love. The rain, which lingers in the uplands, is his brooding affection. The cold, storm and the tempest that rages at Māmala and fills the heavens with driving scud, represents the violent opposition in the royal court to this love match. Māmala is the waters just outside of Honolulu Harbor. The tale-bearing wind is the gossip that follows the storm of scandal. The princess misbehaved with Mr. Monsarrat. Maʻemaʻe is the hill between Nuʻuanu and Pauoa valleys. Pelekane is Beretania or the Hawaiianized form of Britain and refers to the palace grounds and vicinity. This is an allusion to King Kamehameha IV. Some believe Kalākaua wrote this about his rendezvous with a beautiful girl at ʻAlekoki, a pool in Nuʻuanu Valley just below Kapena Falls, covered when the freeway was built. The melody, by Lizzie ʻAlohikea, has evolved over the years, but many musicians today, incorporate both tunes, using a different melody on the verses. Hawaiian Text edited by Puakea Nogelmeier. © 1927, 42 Charles E. King. Music clip of older melody by Lani Lee.